Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-13 Daily Xml

Contents

Age of Criminal Responsibility

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (15:07): Supplementary: is one of the issues that the government has also considered the costs associated with detaining children in detention, and does the minister have a view on that?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:07): I thank the honourable member for his question. Certainly, that's not one of the overriding issues we are looking at or the lenses we are looking at this through. The safety of the community is paramount. The needs and the outcomes for the children is also an exceptionally important thing to take into account. Certainly, detaining children is expensive, detaining adults is expensive, but as I said, whatever interventions are put in place need to be considered as well and there will be a cost to those—the therapy or family supports as well.